Previews-o-Rama part 2: The Middle

We continue now with the second half of our monthly stroll through the lastest Previews for items scheduled to come out in October (more or less...)


AAA Pop has the fourth volume of MIke Allread's The Golden Plates.

Abstract Studios have more of Terry Moore's Strangers in Paradise (#77) and the 17th collected volume as well.

ACC Studios has liberality for All, which shows what would happen if those evil liberals had taken over the country. Yeah, right, like that's going to happen. I like how the conservative saviors of America include convicted felon G. Gordon Libby and overturned-on-a-technicality Oliver North. Brings a whole new meaning to Neo-'Con', doesn't it.

More Yotsuba&! (vol. 3) and Cromartie High School (Vol. 4) from ADV Manga.

Woo Hoo! Not only is Aeon reprinting Matt Howarth's Keif Llama series in a handy collected edition, they also have a brand-new Keif Llama series as well.

AiT/PlanetLAR's intriguing GN for the month is Rob Osborne's Sunset City, about mysterious goings-on in a retirement community.

Alias don't have any new series debuting this month, although you'll want to take note of the final issues of Opposite Forces (#4) and David: Shepherd's Song (#3).

Oddball project of the month is Amaze Inks new Disney collabortation, Haunted Mansion, with Roman Dirge. Worth getting I think just to see what the heck it ends up being...

Aaron Warner's Amazing Aaron Productions releases the second volume of A College Girl Names Joe just a month after the first volume. You may want to slow up on the release schedule there Aaron, to give your readers (and, more importantly, retailers) a chance to get interested in the first volume before committing pre-orders to a second...

If you still haven't discovered the guilty joy that is Fred Perry's Gold Digger, Antarctic this month has a five-pack of Gold DIgger Pocket Manga for the discount price of just $30.

Archie get an early jump on the holiday comic season with Christmas-themed issues of Betty & Veronica Spectacular (#72) and Archie's Holiday Fun Digest (#10). They also have a new issue of Sabrina (#71).

Dynamite Entertainment want to be the next Avatar, with five covers for Red Sonja #5, but they're going to have to work harder, as Avatar's Lady Death: The Wicked #1 has at least seven covers.

Del Rey has the third volume of Genshiken.

Digital Manga Publishing has the second violence-filled volume of Bambi and Her Pink Gun.

DR Masters have the fifteenth volume of Iron Wok Jan.

Drawn & Quarterly are heavily pushing Guy Delisle's Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea.

Fantagraphics have a long-awaited new issue of Chris Ware's Acme Novelty Library (#16)--too bad it's a $16 64-page hardcover. (I love the sly solicitation text though!)

New Publishers Go!Comi & Ice Kunion both enter the crowded manga market with several new manga voluems from each. (Actually, Ice Kunion are focusing on Korean Manwha.)

ibooks have a new GN from Joe Kubert: Jew Gangster: A Father's Admonition.

IDW have the final issue of Angel: The Curse (#5) and the fourht collected volume of Te Legends of Grimjack.

Kyle Baker Publishing have the second issue of Kyle Baker's Nat Turner biography.

Lost in the Dark have the second issue of Fragile Prophet.

Moronik Comics have the second issues of Bug Girl and Dirt Boy.

Oni have the final issue (#4) of Banana Sunday. Final issue?! Please tell me that there will be more!

Renaissance Press wraps up Jimmy Gownley's "Superheroes" storyline in Amelia Rules #16.

Speakeasy have the third issue of Rocketo.

Apparently Bill Jemas's new comic company, 360ep, apparently isn't even going to pretend that it's more interested in comics than in merchandizing.

New OEL manga from TokyoPop include Mark of the Succubus by Askly Raiti & Irene Flores; and A Midnight Opera by Hans Steinback.

Viper conclude The Middleman with issue #4.

Viz seem intent on making manga fans sound like babbling idiots when they ask their friendly comic retailer for a book called BoBoBo-Bo Bo-BoBo (or, as I'm sure it'll end up being called, "That Bo-Bo-Bo-Bo manga").


Sorry I'm light on the snark this time around, but this Previews-o-Rama is late enough as it is. I'll try to squeeze in double the snark next month.

New This Week: August 24, 2005

Based on the NCRL list for this week's comics shipping from Diamond, here are a few things to look for at the local comic shop tomorrow:


The Pick of the Week is Banana Sunday #2 by Root Nibot & Colleen Coover, from Oni Press. The first issue was fun fun fun, and this second issue is sure to continue the monkey joy!


In other comics:

More monkey fun as Alias bring us Monkey In a Wagon vs Lemur On a Big Wheel #1.

Antarctic have a new issue of Fred Perry's Gold Diggers (#66).

Cryptic Press have a new issue of Quicken Forbidden (#13).

Dark Horse have a new issue of Conan (#19) and a new volume of Little Lulu (vol. 5)

DC have the final collection of Catwoman with the good art: Wild Ride; the fourth post-Crisis Superman: The Man of Steel collection that includes a rather excellent crossover with Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes; a new edition of the soon-to-be-a-major-motion-picture A History of Violence; the debut of Warren Ellis's Jack Cross; and new issues of City of Tomorrow (#5), Hellblazer (#211), Legion of Super-Heroes (#9); and Otherworld (#6).

DR Masters have a new volume of Iron Wok Jan (vol. 12).

Fantagraphics have a new issue of The Comics Journal (#270).

IDW go all Whedonverse with a new issue of Angel: The Curse (#3) and Peter David's Spike: Old Times one-shot.

Image have new issues of Invincible (#25) and The Walking Dead (#21).

Marvel have the final issue of Spellbinders (#6), the first Ultimate X-Men Annual, and new issues of Daredevil (#76), Hulk: Destruction (#2), Machine Teen (#4), and Wolverine (#31).

Viper have the second issue of The Middleman.

And both TokyoPop and Viz have a slew of manga volumes.

Quick Manga Reviews

Bambi and her Pink Gun, vol. 1
by Atsushi Kaneko

Take the Mature Readers rating on this volume very seriously: it is brutal, violent and nihilistic (and there's a good dose of sex and nudity too). Teenager Bambi doesn't seem to be quite all right in the head, but she's got pink hair and a pink gun, knows her way around a fight, and has kidnapped a young boy to deliver to the mysterious "Old Men." There's now a 500 million yen bounty out for her head and the safe return of the boy, but she's not going to let him go without a fight. Kaneko is a masterful storyteller: he brings us right in the middle of the action, and doesn't let up as he propels the story forward and fills us in on the backstory as we go along. The art doesn't look like typical manga, nor does it look like anything else either; the closest I can compare it to is the work of Eduardo Risso on 100 Bullets. It's also printed in a red/pink/brownish ink, which gives it a unique look as well. This book certainly isn't for everyone, but if you're in the mood for stylized violence and nihilism, this is the book for you.
Rating: 3.5 (of 5)



Blue Spring
by Taiyo Matsumoto

Confession time: I'm not a big fan of Matsumoto. Despite all the critical raves his work gets, I've never quite gotten it myself. part of it, I think, has to do with the reaction I had when I first encountered his work in the form of Black and White (in the pages of Pulp). I had an intensely visceral reaction to the art: it made me nauseated. Oh, I tried to read it, but could never quite wrap my head around what was going on on the page. At one level I suppose that I admired what Matsumoto was able to do, in being able to disorient a long-time comics reader such as myself; but that didn't mean I had to like it. Combined with the thouroughly unlikable characters, it was the one feature in Pulp that I eventually just skipped over. Blue Spring is likewise filled with unlikable characters--in this case a bevy of bored juvenile delinquents--but at least the art, while still distinctive, is toned down to the point where I can at least stand to look at it. In fact, I find much to admire in the art here, particualrly in the way it is layed out mre like a western comic that typical manga, with what would seem to be the influences of Gene Colan & Neal Adams. Truth be told, I spent more time examining the art than paying attention to the stories, which I really couldn't connect with at all (perhaps I'd have a better chance of doing so if I were a disaffected youth). Blue Spring falls into the category of comics that I realize have merit, but don't appeal to me personally.
Rating: 2.5 (of 5)